A. Field
This invention relates generally to the field of applications for wireless communications devices (e.g., cell phones, personal digital assistants, and the like). More particularly, it relates to methods by which one communications device, which may also comprise a wireless communications device or a personal computer, may obtain media captured by a second wireless communications device along with information as to the location of the second wireless communications device. The methods are particularly useful in the context of parental monitoring of a minor child where the child has a cell phone having either camera or biometric media capture functionality.
B. Related Art
It is generally known today for wireless communication devices, such as cell phones and wirelessly equipped computing devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and laptop computers to be able to engage in wireless packet-data communications and to thereby wirelessly send and receive messages and other content from land-based network entities and other wireless communications devices.
Wireless communications devices such as cell phones often have a camera built into the housing which can be used to captures digital images. Such images can be transmitted across a wireless network, e.g., as an attachment to an email message. See e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,823,198 and 6,785,935.
It is also known in the art that the location of a wireless communications device can be ascertained using a variety of different techniques. In one technique, the device includes a Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite receiver and obtains latitude and longitude coordinates from orbiting GPS satellites. In other techniques, the position of a wireless communications device can be determined by means of triangulation algorithms and/or signal delay measurements, making use of Radio Frequency (RF) communications between the wireless device and base station antennae in a radio access network. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,990,345; 6,972,717; 6,952,574 and 6,944,466.
The present invention takes advantage of the location determination capability of wireless communications devices and the ability of such devices to capture media (e.g., photographs) in new and unexpected ways to enable a wireless communications device such as a cell phone to be a useful tool to assist parents in monitoring their children.